Black Musk

Wow, this is a very nice musk with a twist of Montale's DNA. Black Musk opens with a hint of rose & spices, followed shortly by popping woods and leathery musk. Montale's classic oud and rose combination becomes apparent, sitting in the background, whilst the animalic & warm musk begins to rise. The spices transform into a peppery nose feel (sharp in the first half hour), whilst oud and other woods blend together to support the leather musk. The musk here is likeable. It is darker for sure, boosted by the woody base, a tinge of rose continuing to provide some colour before being replaced by a somewhat creosotic patchouli some hours later. Performance is fantastic. Not quite as aggressive or loud as some Montale scents can be, but projection & sillage are both decent, whilst longevity is spectacular - the scent remaining layered and lively hours after application. Overall, Black Musk is one of the better balanced scents from Montale's earlier work. More appealing and wearable compared with something like Black Aoud. It stills smells quite interesting and unique even today. This is a sensual, dense, and slightly animalic musk. I could wear this, any time, any where. Well worth trying for musk fans!

I could almost swear that when looking at the note pyramid and smelling this on me, there has to be more to the composition than what is listed... But in either case, I absolutely LOVE this. It's dark and masculine, but it's "clean" at the same time. This is more pewter grey than black. Longevity and sillage need not be mentioned here: it's classic Montale in those aspects. Actually, this has left traces on my skin after 24 hours. It survived 55C heat yesterday and will be on my shirt until I wash it out - but gosh, I really don't want to.. LOL This is definitely a mood-setting fragrance that turns heads with a vengeance. I actually got stared at and sniffed by a mother/daughter pair last night. After giggling and speaking to the store owner in Arabic, he told me later on that they both wanted to know what I was and I was wearing. Apparently, they both thought I was attractive and smelled sexy. From the looks of them, case closed. ;) Black Musk, another reason Montale is up there with Hermes in my collection....

I sometimes wonder if people realize the effect it has on people reading reviews when they use words such as "dark, death-like, villain etc". It makes for an interesting read but the connotation can easily put you off from giving this scent a chance. Is it somewhat dark? Yes, but not anywhere close to the picture that was painted by the reviews. Black Musk reminds me of a bare Montale Oudmazing (stripped of the fruits) and a bare Mancera Musky Garden (stripped of the fruits and add some oud). This is a beautiful creation and Black Musk will really set you apart from the people around you depending on how many sprays you do. It's musky for sure, and less leathery than expected but it's still there with some patchouli popping through in the background. Edit 2025.01.18: I actually wore it in high heat today and the fresh metallic edge works for hotter days. Just don't use too much. It gives me the feel of an molecular fragrance. What an absolutely stunning fragrance!

This is my first Montale (***drum roll***)........and perhaps like many before me, I was expecting this to be bold and challenging with the synonymous 'nuclear' Montale performance. Actually it is not really challenging at all but is a very masculine and signature-scent worthy, dark, brooding, spicy Musk-Leather-Pepper scent with a touch of watery-floral-freshness. It is a pleasure to wear. However, I'm sad to report the performance on this one is pretty disappointing - 4-5 hours and it becomes barely noticeable on skin and only traces on clothing. I checked with family members to see if it was just me going anosmic to it but they too could barely detect it. As with all my scents I give the atomiser a good few pumps out of the box and then leave them to oxidate in a dark cupboard for 4-6 weeks so fingers crossed this one gradually 'wakes up'.......I hope so because this is a statement maker in a very good way. 🤞

Such an interesting fragrance! Yesterday I tested it on my skin and in the first 30 minutes it was so...peppery, dark, sharp and strong that I was not sure it was for me. Then I found out that the first strong and cold metalic notes are a bit away and something gently sharp and deep started to come on the front line of notes. I couldnot stop breathing it. It is interesting that the strong and sharp metalic note becomes almost powdery and dominant, but as strong as in the begining. I am amazed of this clean and in the same time sharp and dark cristal deepnes of the fragrance. It becomes like a second skin to me. I believe that on a male skin will evoluate amazing too. It is a distinguished and pure pleasurable fragrance with notes of clean, dark peppery musk which turns on the senses.

I find this offering from Montale just delightful. They've hit it perfectly with this one. In the opening I get three notes, musk leather and sandalwood. The leather eventually dies back a bit but the sandalwood and musk hang around, and I can catch some of the patchouli in the base and a light amber. Honestly I think they nailed this, it has all the right facets of those classic black musk oils you can buy in any place that sells roll-ons, without any of the cheap smelling chemicals and with juiced up performance. My new favorite from Montale.

Leathery musk. There is a distinct pungent sharpness to this fragrance from the musk. Less is more with this one. This is very pleasant overall and is enjoyed with almost every breath. The enjoyment is slightly reduced by the pungency of the musk. Montale Aoud Musk does not carry this same liability and is a smoother scent overall with similar performance. Update: The sharpness no longer bothers me or maybe the scent has mellowed a bit over time. Either way, this is a great fragrance and is highly enjoyable while wearing.

If you want to spend the entire night in self admiration, whilst others also admire you, this is what you should be wearing. It turns heads, gets attention, and commands others to get out of it's way. You won't ever go unnoticed. It's dark and it's dirty. It's smokey and sexy. Possibly one of the best fragrances to wear when you only have one goal in mind! Just buy it, put it on, and let it do the talking!

I like Black Musk. It does seem like a toned down, easier to wear version of Black Aoud. Opens with a lot of damp earthy type patchouli. After that settles down it goes into leathery/woody territory. I swear there is a small amount of rose here too though it's not listed. It lasts a long time on me with good projection. Not nuclear projection like black aoud but noticeable. Very nice.

What scent of royalty. It smells very chic, formal, and fabulous. This leather blends so well with pepper and nutmeg giving a balance of its composition. I still did not detect the musk here, but let your slightly creamy sandalwood and warm touch. Loved, because this does not smell those leather car seat. I rank it like this: Smell: 10/10 Projection: 9/10 Longevity: 10/10

This is without a doubt one of the best if not the best after black aoud IMO. It does remind me of black aoud but definetly the musk comes in play toning down the black aoud strength! It is still bee potent and a compliment getter for sure! It's classy, it's elegant and refined! It's one of those that will keep you wanting to smell more and more! I mean wow!!!!

What a heavenly smell! Musk soft as a feather. Just a little of spice, just enough to warm your heart like a cup of coffee warms your hands on a rainy winter day. So much emotions in a bottle yet so soothing & calming. Black Musk is one of Montale's finest creations. I've fallen...hard.

This is blended really well. At times simplicity is the best quality in fragrance rather than having 100 notes in the break-down. The fragrance is well blended, and the mix of Musk with Leather and Teak wood creates the magic here. It is quite unique in that way. Excellent composition!

This starts out super loud. I just got it so I don't know how the longevity will be but I'm betting it's the usual beast mode montale. Very musky and leather. Hard to smell any of the other notes. Even still I like it quite a bit. 8/10.

Heavy aromatic icy leather, essential oil timber and tasty spice, solid, smoky musk. Well-layered. Bright, confident, wise, sexy. Full presence, it says "who`s the daddy?". The smell of a mature sophisticated successful male.

I don’t see why people don’t like this fragrance more, it’s very wearable with the musk but doesn’t lack in performance and the pepper and leather blend together comfortably. In my opinion it’s excellent on the right skin.

Impressive. A slightly spicy, masculine leather. 'Black Leather' would have been a better name. Performance is outstanding. Projection is strong, longevity excellent with easily 10-14+ hours. Mark

This one is part of what i call montales macho trio.....black aoud, black musk & aoud leather; all three excellent frags, great smell and longevity and total macho bad-assery.

So far this and Red Vetyver are my two favorite from this house. This is pretty powerful but not off putting in the least. Beautiful scent and worth a try. 9/10

Oh, my! The opening is incredibly sexy and sensual but it has a sharp edge to it. Like being stroked and teased with a soft feather, but then given a damn good thrashing with a handful of ostrich feathers. It was all so gorgeous, I wasn't able to distinguish the notes, very probably because I was so overcome. Maybe it was the musks being all sexy and seductive? A dollop of medicinal oud comes in to smarten it all up and complexify it and I very definitely get lots of layers - something floral (not quite rose but a suggestion in that direction), a little peppered spice, then increasing patchouli and a dark but restrained leather behind. Very smart, very sexy. Very nice. However, it turned on me - less like a beast and more like a mortician - and started to become a phenol bomb! And it got progressively worse over the next 60 minutes. This unidentified phenol accord possibly arose due to a combination of the earthy patchouli, the tangy leather, and whatever type of musk and medicinal fake oud they used. They all blended together 'well' but it just didn't sit right for me. It was initially in a similar ballpark to TF Noir for Men but ended up more like Dettol disinfectant. The eventual drydown after one hour is back to something sexy and smooth again but I'm a little haunted still. If it had stayed closer to where it was then it would have been delicious but that mid-section really make me feel like an old person with a wound! I will of course retry, just to check, as many beasts have turned into beauties on second showing. (Caviat: I didn't use my 1ml sample for over a month so it might've concentrated and gone weird on me.)